(Daily Caller) Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren plans to introduce a bill that would make President-elect Donald Trump’s business ties worthy of impeachment, according to a Monday report from The Hill.
The move has limited support, even among Democrats, according to the report. Only 20 Democratic Senators support the measure. The bill requires both Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence to put all of their interests into a blind trust, while Trump currently proposes giving his children controlling interest in his business while he is president.
“The American people deserve to know that the President of the United States is working to do what’s best for the country – not using his office to do what’s best for himself and his businesses,” Warren said in a prepared statement.
The proposed measure would give Congress the authority to formally punish the president with impeachment. Warren’s bill specifically labels any fiscal conflicts of interest as a “high crime or misdemeanor,” a key legal definition that allows Congress to pursue impeachment.
“With Inauguration Day fast approaching, the American people are still waiting to hear what steps President-elect Trump will take to guard against conflicts of interest and corruption in his Administration,” Sen. Dick Durbin told The Hill about Warren’s bill.
A December poll taken by the Rochester Business Journal found that 74 percent of voters supported the idea that Trump put his business interests in a blind trust, while only 23 percent of respondents supported Trump’s plan of moving control of his Business to his family.
“None of these is a workable answer,” venture capitalist David Lovenheim said of the poll. “Instead, he should place his ownership shares of his multiple businesses into a revocable trust, specifying that it may be revoked only after he no longer holds any public office.”
“I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses,” Trump wrote on Twitter Dec. 3. “Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!”
The measure is unlikely to pass, since Republicans have a majority in the Senate, and Warren has limited support from members of her own party.
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